I just got back from two weeks there, Bundy. My shoulder's buggered and I'm waiting for an op, so wasn't climbing. You looking for one large room/suite or separate for you/wife and the kids? GF and I stayed in a new bungalow right under the tower, you could have rappelled onto the verandah.

On 23/05/2012 tnd wrote:
You looking for one large room/suite>or separate for you/wife and the kids? GF and I stayed in a new bungalow>right under the tower, you could have rappelled onto the verandah.

"Phi Phi Popular" bungalows (http://phiphipopularbeach.com/ ). We stayed a few nights so got a discount. Normal price at this time of year is Baht 2000 (30 to the $). Probably half as much again in high season when you'll be there! That's for an air con bungalow with double bed. I hate air con but gf can't live without it. All the new bungalows between the jetty and the tower seem to be air con now.

There's a place next door called Mama (http://mama-beach.com/ ) has little modern three storey buildings, might be more exy, I didn't check them out.

Beside Mama is a little bar/climbing shop called Deaf Gecko. Run by an American guy called Jeff, used to own Karma Bar which was pretty well known on PP. Good for info and cheap beers.

You can tick all my routes on that tower, they'll probably be second ascents...

On 23/05/2012 tnd wrote:>Maybe if a Pom had discovered the place it would be all bad natural pro>and headpointing now (and no-one would go).

.....or maybe if a bunch of Australians (who weren't sydney rockies softc--ks) had found it, the place would be sweet mixed climbing like Bungonia. None of those god awful backpacker/climbers would be be there, it wouldn't be polished, and you'd meet only proper climbers from all round the world..........ah fuch it, it's too hot for climbing anyway, might as well be given over to the pussies.

Sorry I threadjack bundy but has anyone climbed in Thailand in late June/July?
I know it's in the middle of the wet season but on the rain charts it looks like the low point so it may not rain all day, just in the arvos.
Thoughts?

Man up and go to Railay with your wigglies Bundy! Seriously though Phi Phi, Railay is better. Although Phi Phi is good for the family, but more crowded with random back packers than Railay, but yeah I recommend up away from sea level after my last visit lol.

On 24/05/2012 mattbrooks wrote:>Man up and go to Railay with your wigglies Bundy! Seriously though Phi>Phi, Railay is better. Although Phi Phi is good for the family, but more>crowded with random back packers than Railay, but yeah I recommend up away>from sea level after my last visit lol.

Yeah that's right Matt. Its not really a climbing holiday, more so a family holiday with some climbing.

On 24/05/2012 dalai wrote:>ODH - did you man up and climb all the routes on wigglies to show those>pesky Euro's how it's done, or are you just all talk?

Nope, I barely climbed there at all, it's too hot! Look, Thailand could be bolted as a mixed crag like Bungonia (and most of Victoria) it wouldn't be any more dangerous, it'd just require that people actually know how to climb. Anyway, whatever, it isn't a real climbing destination anyway, just a tropical holiday with a few climbs thrown in............and a last resort for losers who need to see the number 25 next to a route they can climb, even though they can barely wobble up 22.

On 24/05/2012 pecheur wrote:>>Then when I started climbing and touching the rock I realised that I wouldn't>trust small gear in a lot of the obvious placements, and went: "Oh that's>why it's bolted ..."

Nope, it's bolted because a bunch of people decided it was going to be that way. Again, whatever, I'm not against sport climbing.

Henry Barber made an interesting point in his slide show a few years ago (he was probably the first person to put up routes in Yangshuo, but no one knows about it because he didn't bolt). His argument was that it's irresponsible to export a single climbing style to a foreign culture. The Chinese are being robbed of the opportunity to learn different styles and make their own decisions by a bunch of foreign climbers who teach them how to bolt but not how place gear.

China (including Yangshuo) has quite a lot of trad. The trad routes in Yangshuo were nothing special though.

Guoliang is mostly trad, with a few mixed routes, it's been a few years since I was in China, so I can't guarantee that there's no sport routes at all, some of the local climbers described it as a "trad paradise" - which is a big call. It tends to be vertical with lots of cracks, a pretty good place, pretty well smack bang in the middle of China - but a paradise????.

LiMing (I'm told) is all trad with bolt anchors. This was part of the deal allowing climbers access to the place. Climbing was banned when I was there, but now is permissible.

The granite crags further north would take trad, but I haven't been there, so don't really know.

I took a full rack last time I went and thoroughly enjoyed myself. You just need to decide on how much stuff you want to travel with. All the guys I met who are doing new routes more or less live there, so they've got loads of gear, way more than I would be comfortable traveling with.

Back on message - don't forget about Kao Laoliang for the family. It's pretty low key, with enough climbing for a week or so. You'd cop the tsunami in the teeth though.